Gardens of Camberwell

I love nature and, as a happy city dweller, I'm particularly drawn to nature in urban environments. I follow Camberwell Life on social media and was fortunate to spot a post by them this weekend about the annual Open Gardens event organised by the Camberwell Society. I decided to join up as a member and set off to discover more.

I'm familiar with some areas of Camberwell after taking a few lovely walks there during the pandemic lockdowns. Arriving at Grove Lane, I picked up a map and proceeded to ramble around for a wonderful 90 minutes.

The owners gave everyone such a warm welcome and the diversity of the spaces they've created and cultivated was fascinating. The first garden I visited stretched back an impressive 120 feet and was filled to the brim with countless varieties of stunning flowers and plants. It was truly magical!

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I love the smell of roses and the exquisite scent of this particular one and its beautifully variegated petals actually stopped me in my tracks. The owner told me the name - Abraham Derby - and I'm now very keen to see if we could have one in our communal garden, to complement a number of gorgeous species of rose we already have growing there.

My next stop was an inspiring split-level garden filled with food growing, herbs, trailing nasturtiums as companion plants, flowers, mosaic work and wall art.

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  Nasturtiums

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Next, in a mews house I saw a lovely small walled garden with a pond that attracts lots of frogs, and a thoughtfully planted terrace on the floor above. Next door was a modern build with a panoramic view from the windows onto a tranquil space with green planting, magnificent arum lilies and a long narrow pond.

Although I wasn't able to take in all of the gardens on this occasion, I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the ones I did see. I wound my way back to Grove Lane afterwards and sat down to enjoy a cup of tea and a delicious homemade brownie. As I relaxed in the peace of the garden set back from the road, I couldn't resist making a drawing with pen and inks of the lovely Georgian houses in front of me.

I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and am looking forward to my membership of Camberwell Society - a community of people living, working or interested in Camberwell.

Links

Camberwell Society website

Camberwell Society on Instagram

Camberwell Life on Instagram

Blog, photos and artworks copyright: Barbara Grehs

Published on 16 June 2024

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